Portable Railway British India, 1876 Photo 

Portable Railway British India, Old Photo 1876

An 1876 photograph of a portable railway in British India. The portable railway is a light railway suitable to dismantle and carry whenever needed. Shown here is some sort of site work in progress. The exact location in the photo is not certain but perhaps in Punjab or even Delhi. But certain quarters suggest this may have been the prospective site of the 1877 Delhi Durbar.

See older post Imperial Procession Delhi Durbar – Old Photo

It was the first of the Delhi Durbars which was a grand ceremony honoring Queen Victoria. Officially titled the “Proclamation Durbar” proclaiming Queen Victoria the “Empress of India.” The then British Viceroy of India Lord Lytton was in charge of the complete arrangements. Around 68,000 people attended the ceremony. The portable railway may have been a great boon for the preparatory groundwork of the durbar in 1877. Two Britishers are visible overseeing the work. One of them operates the steam loco. Also visible is a horse carriage on stand-by as their likely conveyance.

Did you know- that portable railway includes toy trains that can carry adults on top of its carriages.

From the collection- 1964 M. Suriyamoorthy Charcoal Art Abstract (#16)., King George Lays Foundation Stone Mumbai – Old Print 1905., Indian Railways One Hundred Years – Old Book 1953., Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple Trivandrum – Old Postcard